I Have to do it.....

I work downtown in a city of over half a million population. In the central part of downtown is an entertainment district called Sundance Square. It has movie theaters, stage production theaters, a large concert hall, clubs, bars, and many restaurants.

On Friday and Saturday nights, street preachers from around the local area make their way to Sundance Square to "preach the good news" to the sinners who congregate there. They are for the most part very confrontational, standing on the corners, yelling to people as they make their way to the restaurants, bars, and movies. A friend of mine's son and girl friend were down there one night and were called "fornicators" by one of "God's messengers" as they walked by his location. Now I'm pretty sure this guy was making a fairly wild prognostication about these two young people. Does this kind of evangelism bother anyone else than just me. The local newspaper did a story on the street preachers who told the reporter that God instructed them to preach there. " I have to do it". They claim they were just doing the Lord's Work". There's also a homeless shelter downtown. I wonder if these street preachers show up there yelling their condemnatory remarks at the regulars who sleep at the shelter or do they bring food and clothing instead. I have an idea I know the answer to that one. These men shout the "good news" that God loves you; if you are smart enough to realize it, make the right decision and mean it, then live a basically sinless life, all the while living with the guilt of constantly failing to live up to the standard. That's the "GOOD NEWS". I don't think so. I think they're wrong in so many ways I'd need a small book to put it all down. Man, I'd like to show them the REAL "Good News". I'm glad I don't frequent the preacher's territory. I'm afraid I might say something I shouldn't to one or more of them, and it wouldn't be "good news".